Brawn doubts Leclerc can beat Vettel

Liberty Media's Ross Brawn believes that Charles Leclerc's promotion to Ferrari from Sauber for the 2019 Formula 1 season could "unsettle" his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, but admits he would be "surprised" if the younger driver managed to beat the four-time world champion over the campaign.

Ferrari made the decision last year to replace Kimi Raikkonen with Leclerc, in a move which deviated from their tradition of having more experienced drivers behind the wheel.

The Monegasque star is believed by many to be a feature world champion, but Brawn doesn't think he is at Vettel's level yet.

"I'd be surprised, if I'm honest, Sebastian is very good," said Brawn.

"If it unsettles him a little bit, I think that's the thing that the team will have to manage, not necessarily Charles beating him, but the fact that he could unsettle him.

"I think he's the number one in that respect," he said of Leclerc and the young crop of stars.

"He's had a very good first year, and he's now in a top team. Talking to some of the people I know at Ferrari, they've been very impressed with his approach and attitude. I think he's pretty special."

Brawn has tipped Ferrari to be more of a force this year, after the tumultuous campaign last season which saw Maurizio Arrivabene replaced as team principal by Mattia Binotto.

"The team was in a little bit of disarray last year, with Sergio [Marchionne] passing away and then clearly there was some friction in the team between Maurizio and Mattia, it wasn't smooth. So it wasn't an easy environment last year," he continued.

"Although they had a good car and they were strong at times, if you're going to beat Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, you need to be on top of everything. But I have a feeling that this year will be stronger for them."

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